1958 Chevrolet Apache - Eyesore No More

Not everyone shares the same fondness for older vehicles, and it seems like we all have "that neighbor" who feels quite the opposite, in fact. Some are kind about it, and some, well, some don't beat around the bush. Anthony Mangione grew up alongside a '58 Chevy truck his grandfather bought long before Anthony was around. Once the Apache was handed down to Anthony's dad, John, it had a few miles on it, and it soon became the neighborhood's truck, much to the chagrin of their neighbor, Mrs. Grey, who disliked looking out her living room window to see it parked on the street. People would call it patina today, but the combination of surface rust and what was left of the original chalky white paint on this old wreck was enough for her to write John a letter proclaiming her distaste for his unsightly automobile.

This letter might have been the match that lit a flame under John, as he soon restored the truck to its original condition, but with a 300-horse 327, a T-10, and a 4.10:1 ring-and-pinion that would launch the better-than-new '58 hard enough to have some fun. Anthony even took the truck on a date where a Mustang was hot to trot and he wasn't gonna give in despite the truck's stock suspension that got a little hairy over 70 mph. He put his foot in it and wound up beating the Mustang and impressing his date.

John drove the Chevy daily from 1980 until around 2000, when the truck began to sit. Around this time, Anthony had started looking for his own old truck to fill the '58's void after his mom and dad retired in Big Bear, California. One day John called Anthony to ask if he'd found a truck yet, and when Anthony told him how bad the search was going, John responded with, "Why don't you take the '58?" Anthony never did ask his dad for the truck because he knew how attached he was, but after making sure he was ready to part with it, Anthony gladly accepted the old Chevy.

For the next three years, Anthony drove to and from Hemet, California- which isn't exactly close-three or four times a week to work on the '58. His friend Tom McMichael, who builds circle track cars for driver/shop owner George Ruark, cleared a spot for the Chevy in the shop and was there to lend a hand. Together, they planned to give the '58 the full Monty, and Tom's experience would prove to be a great help getting it done smoothly.

They started with the chassis, which was a no-brainer for Tom. A Fatman Fabrications Mustang II IFS was welded into the fully boxed frame, while CPP 2-inch dropped spindles were added between the tubular A-arms along with CPP's GM 11-inch discs to get the frontend rolling. In the rear, they C-notched the frame to make way for the 10-bolt rearend Tom stuffed with Moser axles, a Richmond 3.73 ring-and-pinion, and an Eaton posi. Along with adding two extra crossmembers, the guys also set the whole chassis up with a full Air Ride system.

Spending all this time at a race car shop can be a good and bad thing. There's the opportunity to learn plenty of cool stuff, but what do race cars do? They go fast. Tom soon put together a 480-horse 383 small-block once they got it back from Hi-Tech in Palm Springs, which did the machine work. The internally balanced motor includes the following until Anthony "needs" more power: 10:1 Wiseco forged pistons, SCAT 4340 crank and rods, plasma moly rings, custom-ground COMP cam and COMP Pro Magnum rockers, Wilson Tork-Link manifold, and 750-cfm Mighty Demon. Anthony built his own 2 1/2-inch exhaust system around a set of Hooker Super Comp headers and Borla XR1 mufflers as a fitting way to fill the streets with a rumble.

The body and paint proved to be the albatross that hung over Anthony's head for a year longer than planned, but they still managed to turn out very nice even though he wanted to run the person hired to do the job out of town. Underneath the custom-mixed charcoal metallic PPG is a truck that's had every seam inside and out welded up and smoothed. There were plenty of other places that got a nip and tuck, like the smoothed cowl, firewall, inner fender panels, dash, smoothed and pulled-in bumpers, stock-looking wheeltubs, welded-up stake pockets, and redesigned tailgate. The idea was to take care of numerous small details like these and let the overall stock lines prevail, which gave the sometimes cumbersome '58 a whole new attitude. The bedwood stands out as well. John was in Arizona on vacation and stumbled across this exotic African Padauk wood that he knew was perfect for the truck, so he hauled a load back as well as fitting, prepping, finishing, and installing the wood in the '58's bed. There are more than 50 hours in the bedwood alone, and it was worth every minute.

It was now up to Dennis Hyland of Hyland Auto Upholstery to make the inside of the Chevy nice or nicer than the outside. After laying down Dynamat everywhere he could, he installed the Porsche Space Grey wool carpet and the sandstone UltraLeather-covered Glide seat. He also made the custom lower dash panel to house the Hot Rod Air A/C controls and vents, Air Ride switches/pressure gauge, and the Alpine stereo. Dennis finished the interior on time and for less than the original quote. Does that ever happen?

Even though the '58 was in George's shop longer than he anticipated, he never once made Anthony feel like he was wearing out his welcome. In the end, everyone was glad to see the '58 on the road, including Anthony's very patient girlfriend, Kelly, who never once complained about the time or money put into the truck. John couldn't be more proud of what Anthony has transformed this permanent member of the family into. See you on the road!